


Je t'aime encore

by erioel



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Fluff, French, M/M, MSBY Black Jackals - Freeform, Osamu is evil but he does love Atsumu he's just rotten to the core, Post-Time Skip, based on the french translation where Atsumu calls Hinata 'mon petit shouyou' like cmon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-06
Updated: 2020-12-06
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:27:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27910735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erioel/pseuds/erioel
Summary: Atsumu gets the bright idea in his head that the way to Shouyou's heart is through French terms of endearment. Osamu cannot wait to see how this plays out, and Adriah is (sorta) totally innocent.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Miya Atsumu
Comments: 33
Kudos: 253





	Je t'aime encore

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this adorable tweet](https://twitter.com/carohaze/status/1335275616413896706?s=20) about the French translation of "I'm moved, Shouyou-kun," where Atsumu calls Hinata "Mon petit Shouyou." All credit to the tweet author, I just absolutely couldn't resist.
> 
> Title is from the song by the same name by Yelle. Check out her album L'Ère du Verseau!

All things told, the whole thing starts rather innocently, with Adriah Tomas being the unwitting driving force. Atsumu knows it’s not his fault, exactly, but he still blames him for what comes after anyway. 

One fateful day after an otherwise unremarkable Black Jackals practice, the team’s finished cleaning up and is gathered in the locker room. Bokuto and Hinata still have energy somehow, bouncing off the walls and each other while Sakusa sends them a nasty glare from where he’s trying to hold a conversation with Meian. Inunaki and Barnes are heading off to the showers; Tomas is on the phone, and Atsumu’s not quite so subtly eavesdropping on him. 

Not that his eavesdropping makes a difference, as he can’t understand a word the guy’s saying. Atsumu knows it’s not English, and it (obviously) isn’t Japanese. What do people from Switzerland speak, anyway? Swiss? Is that a thing? 

That line of thought is brought to a screeching halt when Atsumu hears Tomas say to whoever is on the other line, “ _Bon, mon petit chou. Allez, bises, à tout.”_ When he hangs up, Tomas turns to Atsumu and double-takes at the way he’s staring at him, catching flies. 

Adriah looks around quickly, wondering what might’ve set Atsumu off this time. “What? What’s wrong?” he asks, perplexed. 

“What do you mean, what? What language was that? _Who_ was that?” asks Atsumu, and then, quieter, “And why were you calling them _‘Shou?’_ ”

Adriah blinks down at him. Ah, so that was it; Atsumu’s raging crush on Hinata was just getting the better of him again. “It was French, Atsumu. I was talking to my boyfriend back home.” 

Atsumu’s eyes widen comically. “ _Whoahhh,_ your boyfriend has the same name as Shouyou-kun? That’s so weird!” _Of course that’s all he’d take away_ , thinks Adriah fondly. 

“No, Atsumu. ‘ _Chou_ ’ is just a french word. You know, like a pet name, for someone you like,” Adriah explains with a smile, always happy to talk about his boyfriend or anything related to him. It’s been about five months since they’ve been able to see each other and while the distance is certainly making the heart grow fonder, it’s still tough. Maybe after this season, he’ll take the time to go home for a bit. 

Atsumu looks contemplative at that. French, huh. It sounded pretty cool coming from Tomas like that, and the pet name had sounded really suave. Wait, now _that’s_ an idea-

“Adriah, teach me some more cool French stuff, like that chou thing!” begs Atsumu, “Onigiri on me for a month! Promise!” 

Tomas laughs and says, “Sure, Atsumu. I’ll teach you whatever you want. Let’s go to your brother’s place and I’ll teach you on the way there.” Atsumu hurries to finish dressing and washing up and the two leave together. 

  
  


* * *

On the way to Onigiri Miya, Atsumu learns that French is actually really damn cool! It also makes no sense. 

“So, if you say _mon petit chou,_ you’re literally calling them your little cabbage? What the hell, man? And your boyfriend knows you’re calling him that?” Atsumu asks nose scrunched up a little. Maybe that’s not the best thing to say to Shouyou-kun, then, even if he wouldn’t understand it. 

Adriah laughs a little at that. “Yeah, but it’s not like that. I think it has something to do with pastries, I’m not sure. But it’s really common. You’d use it for a guy you like, or someone younger who’s special to you. Or you could also just call them ‘ _mon petit.’_ ” 

Well, all three of those things apply to Hinata, so Atsumu won’t discredit that pet name just yet. Maybe he’ll look it up later to double-check; Tomas doesn’t seem like the type of guy to mess with him just for shits and giggles, but years of the Sunarin-Osamu nightmare-team have left Atsumu with deep emotional scarring. 

Atsumu nods thoughtfully, and asks “What else? Like, what other things would you call your boyfriend?” 

Tomas hums, smiling a little, and answers “Well, I could call him _mon doudou_ , but it’s rather silly. I like to use _mon chéri_ a lot, or _mon cœur._ That means ‘my dear’ and ‘my heart,’ respectively.” He doesn’t fail to notice Atsumu’s wince at that first one but he does appear to roll the other two around in his mouth a little. _Mon cœur._ That one sounds pretty good, actually. 

As they come up on Onigiri Miya, Tomas jolts, seemingly remembering something. “Oh! Here’s another; you don’t hear it so often, but I think you’ll like it. _Mon petit monstre;_ it means ‘my little monster,’” says Tomas proudly. If Atsumu uses these terms on who Adriah thinks he will (which he definitely will), then that one would be particularly fitting. 

Atsumu seems to agree, judging by the way his eyes sparkle. “Oh, I like that one! Thanks, Tomas!” he says, holding the door open for him as he ducks his way inside. Osamu greets them both from behind the counter that he’s wiping down. 

“Hey, Tomas-kun. ‘Tsumu. What’ll it be today?” asks Osamu, already putting down his towel and turning to make Atsumu’s favorite fatty tuna rice ball. When the pair have sat down at his counter and begun to dig in, Osamu asks, “So, what’s the occasion? I don’t see you two together that often.” 

Mouth full of rice, Atsumu answers, “Tomas-kun is teaching me French stuff! Did you know they speak France in Switzerland, ‘Samu? And they’ve got all kinds of names for people. Like, you can call someone ‘my little cabbage’ and they’ll like it!” 

“That so? Why’s Tomas teaching you pet names, of all things?” asks Osamu, a little confused but starting to see where this is going. If he’s right, he’ll call Suna as soon as these two leave. He’ll definitely get a kick out of this. 

Atsumu must see something in his eyes that he doesn’t quite like, and answers a little warily, “Well, I figured that it would be a nice way to say cute things to Shouyou. Y’know, without him knowing.” Atsumu even looks proud of himself for that line of reasoning, too. Oh yeah, this is gonna be fun. 

Osamu is well aware of his twin’s ridiculously overblown crush on Hinata Shouyou; it’d be hard not to be aware of it, as he’s been there for every minute of Atsumu’s post-Nationals pining for the little shrimp. It’d been kinda endearing at first to see his brother so hung up over someone, but the whole thing got old quick, especially when Hinata moved overseas and Osamu had to hear about it _all. The fucking. Time._ He’d hoped that Hinata joining the Black Jackals would be the catalyst for Atsumu finally confessing, but he’d somehow managed to underestimate just how much of a jackass his brother is. So now everybody and their mother, especially Atsumu’s current and former teammates, gets to hear Atsumu expound upon the many virtues of one Hinata Shouyou. The kid could fart and Osamu would probably get a play-by-play of it from his idiot brother. 

But maybe, with the help of an oblivious Adriah Tomas, the insanity will come to an end. Osamu decides now is a time to play along, and place his bets. 

“Oh yeah? That sounds like a great idea, ‘Tsumu. You should go for it!” says Osamu, trying his hardest to radiate sincerity when Atsumu sends him a mistrustful look. 

“Yeah...thanks, ‘Samu,” says Atsumu, a little leery but deciding that maybe, just this once, he’ll believe that his twin really does have his best interests at heart. The poor fool, Osamu thinks, as Atsumu and Tomas eventually leave, already calling Suna before the door swings shut behind them. 

* * *

  
  


Atsumu is totally, completely, one-hundred percent aware of how ridiculous his infatuation with Shouyou-kun is. He knows how absurd it is to hold a torch that’s burned for five years for someone you’d spoken to maybe twice; he knows that Shouyou is a good guy, and likes men, and probably wouldn’t reject Atsumu too hard if he confessed, if he even rejected him at all (which is a scenario that Atsumu doesn’t even let himself dream about, the way it makes his heart try to leap out of his ribcage). He _knows_ all this, thank you, Osamu. 

The thing is, though, can you really blame him? From the moment he saw that twin hunger at Spring Nationals, he’s been caught on Shouyou, hook, line, and sinker. Mr. Globe-trotting monster, who left Japan behind to work himself raw under the Brazilian sun. Hinata Shouyou is a force of nature, and Atsumu isn’t entirely sure he’s enough to handle him. After all, he’s never even left the Kansai region; Hinata has been places, seen things, and met people unlike Atsumu ever has. He even speaks, like, three languages, _fluidly._ He could have anyone he wants, and Atsumu is well aware of how many people want him; he’s gotta beat them back practically whenever the team goes out for drinks. 

So, therefore, if Atsumu wants Hinata, he’s gotta make himself stand out. He’s gotta be _cool._ He’s gotta be _worldly._ Thus, French pet names. 

They’re cool, they’re worldly, and Hinata won’t understand them at all, as French _isn’t_ one of the languages he speaks, Atsumu checked. Atsumu’ll practice saying them over and over until they sound just right, and then _BAM!_ All-suave like, he’ll start dropping them on Shouyou here and there. Oh, what’s that, Shouyou-kun? What’d I say? Don’t worry about it, it’s nothing bad, just a little _French_ I picked up, haha. That’s me, Miya Atsumu, international man, speaker of French. And eventually, Shouyou will be so impressed by Atsumu, he’ll maybe even start to see Atsumu as someone worthy of him. 

Yeah, this’ll be _great!_ Atsumu resolves to put his plan into place immediately, starting at practice the next day. 

* * *

  
  


Ok, so it’s a little harder than that in practice. Literally. Tuesday night, Atsumu had spent the entire night perfecting the different phrases, even calling Tomas to make sure he’s was saying them right and wasn’t about to make an ass of himself. He’d got the words down alright, but now actually _saying_ them is eluding him. 

Turns out, just dropping random foreign terms of endearment into casual speech would be kinda awkward. Not at all suave. Atsumu had thought to turn to Shouyou after a particularly impressive spike and lay that killer _mon cœur_ line on him, but the words shriveled and died in his throat when he noticed that the ever-watchful Sakusa was nearby and within hearing range. Should Atsumu fuck it up, he doubts he’ll ever hear the end of it. 

So, he waits to get Shouyou alone. And waits. And waits. _And waits_ . Maybe he should’ve factored in Hinata’s infectious personality and insane degree of popularity with literally everyone he meets, as his wing spiker constantly has a mob of teammates following him wherever he goes, but come _on._

He’d finally gotten the chance to speak to Shouyou and asked him to go do some weight training with him after practice. After two hours of lifting and steeling his nerves, they’re walking home together when he finally turns to Hinata and says, “Hey, Shouyou.” 

Shaking his protein drink, Shoyou turns to him and says, “What’s up, Atsumu-san?” 

Atsumu quails a bit under the force of that doe-eyed stare but perseveres nonetheless. “Nothin’ much. Just wanted to say that you were on fire today during practice, _mon cœur,”_ he says. There, done, he did it, step one accomplished. 

Shouyou tilts his head to the side at that, not saying anything, just staring. Atsumu feels beads of sweat gather at his hairline. Finally, Shouyou shrugs, and says, “Thanks, Tsum-Tsum! It was all you, though, your sets were really like _bam_ and _pow_ today! Not that they usually aren’t.” Shouyou smiles bashfully, rubbing the back of his head. Atsumu is too focused on how cute of a sight he makes to fully realize that Shouyou hadn’t commented at all on the last part of what he’d said. 

Hm. Well, Atsumu can’t press the issue without it being weird, so he gives this one up. Tomorrow, he’ll try again, and maybe he’ll lay it on a little thicker. 

* * *

The next day goes exactly the same. And the day after that, and the day after that, too, until Atsumu has to start reusing the limited French phrases Tomas had told him. 

On Thursday, he calls Shouyou _“mon chéri”_ while thanking him for grabbing his bag for him from the locker room. Shouyou just smiles widely up at Atsumu and tugs him along to head out with the rest of the team for lunch. 

On Friday, he calls Shouyou _“mon petit”_ while wrapping athletic tape around Shouyou’s fingers after a particularly strong spike from Bokuto had Shouyou shaking his hand, wincing. No comment on that one, either. 

On Saturday, he calls Shoyou, _“mon petit monstre,”_ swinging him around in his arms after they’d secured a win for the Black Jackals against Sunarin’s team. Shouyou just laughs and laughs, but he probably just hadn’t heard it. 

On Sunday morning (technically Saturday night), he calls Shouyou _“mon petit chou”_ while they’re out drinking with the team. Atsumu whispers it in his ear, arm slung around Shouyou’s shoulders, closer than two friends have any right to be. Shouyou shivers but doesn’t outwardly acknowledge him otherwise. 

After two weeks of this, Atsumu is at his wits’ end. 

“He can’t be that oblivious, right?” he asks Osamu over the phone, face buried in a couch cushion, voice muffled. “Like, he should’ve said somethin’ by now. Who ignores someone speaking another language randomly at them?” 

Osamu can tell Atsumu is considering giving up on this whole French thing, and that just won’t do. Atsumu has never been a quitter, no matter how painful, and besides, Osamu has money riding on this. Like hell he’s gonna let Atsumu _not_ make a fool of himself. 

“Maybe he just doesn’t know what to say, ‘Tsumu. Maybe he’s, I don’t know, so flustered by how romantic and cool you sound that he doesn’t know how to respond,” says Osamu, wincing internally. _Eugh_ , that was pretty damn bad; he’s embarrassed with himself for even saying it. But Atsumu’s pretty simple after all, so it might work. 

“Yeah, maybe. I don’t know though, ‘Samu, this whole plan was far-out, anyway,” says Atsumu, and Osamu can’t help but think _Gee, you think so?_ Before Atsumu continues, “I should probably give it up, go back to what I was doing before.”

Considering what Atsumu was doing before was _jack_ and _shit,_ there’s no way Osamu is letting everyone in his life suffer like this any longer than they already have. “No way, you gotta keep going! Trust me, just a little bit longer, and Shouyou’ll acknowledge it,” he says as earnestly as possible. If only Atsumu knew the lengths Osamu would go for him. Well, the lengths he’d go to fuck with him, but still. 

He’s not lying, though. He doubts Hinata-kun will stay quiet on this for much longer. Atsumu was right, Shouyou isn’t oblivious, and he’s not stupid. And he speaks three languages, one of them being Portuguese. This won’t go on for much longer. Hopefully. 

* * *

  
  


Osamu was right. 

A week later, Atsumu promises himself that this is absolutely, positively, one-hundred percent the last time he uses one of the lines Tomas gave him on Shouyou. If this doesn’t work, Atsumu will swear off pet names forever and consider the French language with nothing but disdain for as long as he lives. 

Tomas, Bokuto, Shouyou, and himself are on their way to Osamu’s after practice, Tomas making sure to milk the month of free onigiri for all it’s worth while he still can. Bokkun and Shouyou burst through the doors, making the bell chime cheerily while Osamu yells at them to pipe the hell down in his restaurant. 

When they’re finally seated with their food, Atsumu sees his chance and goes for it. There’s a bit of rice stuck to Shouyou’s cheek. Atsumu turns to him, wiping it off with his thumb, and says, “You’ve got a little something there, _mon petit Shouyou.”_

He fully expects Hinata to ignore it, or brush it off, or one of the many other ways he’s managed to avoid mentioning the pet names, but instead, he laughs. Like, actually giggles. Atsumu’s stomach plummets to somewhere around his feet like an elevator with its cables cut. 

“Atsumu-san, you do know I know what you’re saying, right?” says Shouyou, still giggling. Atsumu’s heart has stopped at this point, and his higher thinking skills, too. 

“ _Wh-_ I, Shouyou- _What?! How?,”_ stutters Atsumu, cheeks on fire. Behind the counter, Osamu has begun to laugh his ass off. Tomas hides a smile behind his hand. Bokuto just looks confused. 

“Atsumu, I speak Portuguese,” says Shouoyou fondly. Atsumu fails to see how that’s relevant. 

_“So?”_

“Portuguese and French aren’t so far off, Tsumu. You just called me _‘my little Shouyou,’_ right?” says Shouyou, while Osamu laughs so hard he has to hold onto the counter, doubled over. 

Atsumu just nods. If Hinata could figure out what that meant, then-

“And the other day, you called me your little monster, right? And a day or two before that, you called me _‘my heart,’”_ asks Shouyou confidently, as if he hasn’t just sent Atsumu into a tailspin and ruined any interaction he’ll have with his brother for the next couple of weeks, or at least until he does something stupid again. 

Atsumu nods again, not trusting his voice. Hinata looks a little smug, just like he does after he’s finally perfected a new move at practice. “That’s what I thought! Yeah, it’s pretty similar in Portuguese,” Shouyou says, looking thoughtful. “French and Portuguese are from the same family, so there’s some overlap,” he finishes with a nod, turning back to his onigiri. Osamu is sitting on the floor now, tears running down his face. Tomas must’ve filled Bokuto in because the two of them aren’t making any effort to hide their laughter now. 

Atsumu just lets his head hit the counter, defeated. Just his luck, huh? Of fucking _course_ Hinata would understand him, right? Like, of _course_ by some trick of the linguistic gods Portuguese and French had to share words or whatever. Going by the way Osamu is already gasping out the story to who must be Suna on the phone, the bastard knew exactly what would happen and set him up. 

Before Atsumu can seriously consider leaping across the counter and throttling his brother, Shouyou pipes back up and says, “I don’t mind it though, Atsumu-san. I actually think it’s really cute! If it’s alright with you, can I use some of the pet names I picked up in Brazil with you?”

Gobsmacked, Atsumu can only nod, blush overtaking his entire face. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see that Osamu has collected himself enough to exchange some money with Tomas, which he would be insulted by under normal circumstances. But the guy he’s had a gigantic crush on since he was seventeen just asked if they could _share pet names_ , so Atsumu’s got bigger, more important fish to fry than murdering his twin. 

* * *

  
  


Later that night, when Atsumu and Hinata are out with the team, Atsumu can sling his arm around Shouyou, pulling him tight, and call him _mon amour._ And Hinata can call him _meu amor_ right back. 

  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Was this all a way for me to use the French I've been studying for six years? Maybe so. 
> 
> I don't know Brazilian Portuguese unfortunately, so I'm not sure if what Shouyou says at the end is entirely accurate. I got it from a Quora about Portuguese terms of endearment LOL. 
> 
> Also, I have no clue if Adriah Tomas is Swiss or not, but somebody needed to speak French, donc voilà! 
> 
> Hope you enjoyed <3


End file.
